Vacation

August 28, 2007

I feel like I’m back in grade school writing about my summer vacation, but I actually had a summer vacation this year, the first one I’ve had since… who knows when, quite possibly since grade school. I think more than ever before, I am feeling retired. I took the entire month of August (apart from the one day to have my Home Coming match in North Bay) and took a legitimate family vacation.

We bought a travel trailer this spring and on the first of August we packed up the whole family for a cross Canada adventure. Both my wife and I have family in Ontario so that is where we went. My Mom lives on a beautiful piece of property on Lake Nippising in Northern Ontario and that is where we spent the majority of our vacation. We spent 2 weeks there relaxing by the lake, boating, swimming and visiting with family. I didn’t watch a single wrestling show the entire time I was away, and apart from honouring my Fight Network, and Fighting Spirit writing commitments did virtually no work at all. It was fantastic.

We also did a 3-day trip to southern Ontario to see some of my wife’s family; visiting her brother and his family at a cottage they vacation at. This was some of the most fun I’ve had in likely 20 years not having to worry about hitting the gym, getting injured, or going back to work. We played baseball, went boating and tubing, stuff I haven’t done since I was a kid. That’s one of the hardest things about the wrestling business you always work weekends, when everyone else is out doing stuff, so you never have the chance for stuff like this.

Before heading back up north we even managed to hook up with Edge for lunch. Edge was in Toronto rehabbing his torn pec, so we co-ordinate our schedules for a lengthy lunch. Edge is doing well, but is still very much the heel, managing to go to the bathroom at the exact time the check arrived. You would think the former 3-time World Champion could afford to buy his retired old friend lunch but apparently not. Thanks Buddy (LOL).

After our lengthy stay in Ontario it was time to head west again, but this time we decided to venture through the United States, and let me tell you despite my Un-American past I have to admit traveling though the States is a million times better than traveling across Canada. Roads were better, services were better, and I have now fallen in love with KOA Camp Sites. We stayed at 2 KOA sites (Bismarck, ND and Maple Grove, MN) on our trip and they were awesome. I never would have thought I’d enjoy camping but I loved it and am already planning next summers vacation where we will again be staying at KOA sites.

We ventured through Minneapolis on our way home to do some back-to-school shopping at the Mall of America, and then headed back up to Canada for the last and possibly most important stop on our journey… “Dog River, Saskatchewan”. As I’ve mentioned here before I am a HUGE Corner Gas fan. Corner Gas is a CTV Comedy show that is the absolute best and funniest show on television. Corner Gas is set in “Dog River” which is actually Rouleau, Saskatchewan, just south of Moose Jaw. We planned our route home to travel through Rouleau, and we stopped by to see where the show is filmed. They were just finishing up shooting some outside shots when we arrived and I managed to get some photos by many of the “Dog River” landmarks.

Unfortunately we didn’t see any of the cast, but to be honest even if we did I probably wouldn’t have gone up to them and asked for a photo. For some reason I am unable to act like a mark and hate bothering others at work. I don’t even have a photo of Ric Flair and I together (which I wish I did) because I could never bring myself to sounding like a mark and asking him for one.

I’ll be posting some of the photo from “Dog River”, but I should warn you all ahead of time, I no longer have the flat top haircut. I guess I am officially retired as I’ve changed my look for the first time in my career. I’ve always hated going to different barbers and after 3-weeks in Ontario my hair was getting too long. I figured what the hell, borrowed a pair of clippers from my Mom, and gave myself a brush cut. Check out the photo link below and if you haven’t already, be sure to check out “Corner Gas” it is an amazing show.